1923 "Bull" Adams : footballer, poet, entertainer and coach
	Like most football clubs, Preston has had its share of characters over the years, but for sheer versatility, few could match William "Bull" Adams ...

A tough, boisterous (with looks to match) and extremely talented player, Adams played senior cricket in Perth and won State swimming championships before moving to Victoria.   Off the field, he was no mean pianist, standup comedian and described as a dab hand at chess.   "The Story of the Melbourne Football Club" published in 1958 refers to "that born Comedian, Bull Adams" and the Preston Leader notes a number of occasions where Adams provided entertainment at junior club meetings and smoke nights during his years at Preston

Adams also had a fondness for poetry, and more than once quoted lines from the classics to the bemused tannery workers from Preston in his addresses to players.   According to the Northcote Leader in 1927 when he was coaching the local club, Adam's favourite lines were from the English poet, Sir Henry Newboldt : "and the captain's hand on his shoulder smote, play up, play up and play the game"

Adams had been a star in W.A. from the age of seventeen and moved to Melbourne early in 1923 and attempted to win a clearance to Fitzroy.  His attempt was thwarted by the Western Australian Football League and caused a rift between the two states.

 "… Adams, who deserves his permit if any man does has been refused a clearance.   Adams is a Western Australian and has played interstate football … Fitzroy were bitterly disappointed … the W.A. League decided to refuse his clearance. Adams left that state because the climactic conditions were not conducive to the health of his wife ..".
The Sporting Globe, May 2, 1923

Much of the reason for Adams not being cleared was attributed to supposedly bad treatment that an East Perth side had received when they visited Melbourne the previous year, even although East Perth stated that Fitzroy was not the club that had caused offence..  Rather than return to Perth, Adams, although only 22 years of age, opted to stand out of senior football, and despite still being in the Victorian Junior Football Association, Preston gained his services as captain-coach, and althought it was never proven, there was a belief at the time that Fitzroy brokered the deal to keep Adams ties to them.

His daring move at three quarter time in the 1923 final won Preston premiership honours against an far more experienced Yarraville side.   Preston were 15 points down and playing a man short when Adams shifted three players from the forward line into defence.   After 15 minutes of kick-to-kick between the mismatched back lines, a Yarraville defender fumbled and let Preston in for a goal, then seconds later, forward Hugh Moffatt outmarked two opponents for another and Yarraville cracked, Preston running out comfortable winners.

Adams didn't mince words with the Preston players or local dignitaries either.    

Long serving Preston secretary Ern Hannah recalled one match against Port Melbourne on a heavy ground when Adams at half-time told players they were like "robin's nests".   Noting the somewhat befuddled looks on his player's faces, "Bull" went on to explain "covered in mud outside and full of s**t inside".

At an evening given in honour of the 1923 premiership team by the Shire of Preston, and after several laudatory speeches, including one that pleaded Adams to come and live in Preston, "Bull" thanked the Shire for their hospitality, and concluded that he wanted to see a grandstand at the ground next year "as your accommodation now is something shocking".

After he played the opening round with Preston in 1924, Adams was cleared to Fitzroy and played 51 games. His form in 1924 was described as patchy, but improved in 1925 to the point where he was made captain in 1926.

Despite Adams' claim he had come to Victoria because of his wife's health, he appears to have been something of a mercenary at times.   He shocked Fitzroy by taking the captain-coach job at Northcote in 1927 and told the 'Roys he was going "whether they cleared him or not".    

Adams faced his first challenge with Northcote with a typically blunt approach.   In 1927 and under Adams, Doug. Nicholls became one of the first aboriginals to play senior football in Melbourne.   According to Mavis Thorp Clark in her 1965 book on Nicholls, "Pastor Doug", Adams warned the players before taking the ground that although "they had colour in the side, they were to kick to the guernsey and disregard the colour".

He returned to Preston in 1928, it being noted that that his salary was 'substantial' for the time.   Before the 1929 season, he trained at Richmond, and believing he was lost to the club, Preston appointed Jim Goonan as captain-coach.   Adams could not come to terms with Richmond and he returned to Preston as a player in probably his best season, kicking 69 goals for the year, sometimes under difficult circumstances.         Early in the year, after a match against Brighton, Adams had his football gear stolen after he and a few teammates stooped off for a drink on the way home.   The following week, "Bull" took to the field in new boots, but by half-time was so disgusted with them that he threw them away and played the second half and kicked three goals in bare feet! In 1930, he coached Launceston, before coaching Prahran early in 1931, and switching to Melbourne later in the year. In a somewhat less than spectacular introduction, his first game was in Melbourne's first ever loss to Footscray. Adams played 16 games in 1931 and 1932 before retiring to coach their Seconds, landing five premierships between 1933 and 1939.   Adams then coached South Melbourne for several years, including their losing side in the 1945 "blood bath" Grand Final against Carlton before being sacked mid-season in 1948. He also wrote many articles on coaching and fitness, notably for "The Sporting Globe Football Annual", an immensely popular publication in the late 1940s and early 1950s.   He went the rounds of the country coaching scene after leaving South, being noted amongst other distant locations as coaching Quambatook in north western Victoria in 1950. The district must have suited Adams, as he later finally settled down and became a publican in St. Arnaud.

"Bull" pictured with the John Wren shield after the 1923 V.J.F.A. premiership win.   Vice-captain Bill Punch is to Adams left, former player and later Essendon star Percy Ogden on his right.